The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has terminated the “JICA Africa Hometown” initiative, following widespread protests in Japan over concerns that the programme would trigger increased immigration from Africa.
The agency scrapped the initiative after struggling to contain the slew of misinformation online about it.
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The “hometown” agreement, announced by JICA at an African development conference in Yokohama in August, aims to strengthen Japan’s ties with Nigeria and other African countries.
It was intended to foster exchanges between four municipalities in Japan and four countries in Africa.
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But Japanese citizens believed the policy was initiated to promote immigration from Africa.
This misinformation was also escalated by the Nigerian government’s false announcement that the agreement would create a new visa category allowing Africans to relocate to Japan.
The Japanese cities and their respective partner nations were: Kisarazu in Chiba Prefecture with Nigeria; Nagai in Yamagata Prefecture with Tanzania; Sanjo in Niigata Prefecture with Ghana; and Imabari in Ehime Prefecture with Mozambique.
However, President Bola Tinubu’s administration announced that the new partnership with Japan would create a special dispensation visa for Nigerians to work in Japan.
This announcement, however, increased misinformation about the programme and worsened outrage about it in Japan, causing waves of protests with citizens calling for its cancellation.
According to the Japan Times, the president of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Akihiko Tanaka, on Thursday said, “Taking the situation seriously, upon consultations with stakeholders, JICA has decided to cancel the ‘Africa Hometown Initiative.”
“We emphasise, however, that promoting international exchange, including with Africa, remains an important priority, and pledge to continue supporting such efforts despite withdrawing the Africa hometown project.”
Mr Tanaka explained that the agency has been working with the Japanese Foreign Ministry to address the misinformation surrounding the agreement, but the uproar remains unsettled.
He added that the ongoing uncertainty also continues to create difficulties for local municipalities.
“We would like to make it clear that JICA has never undertaken initiatives to promote immigration, nor does it have any intention of doing so in the future,” Mr Tanaka added.
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PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that after the Nigerian government announced that the initiative would create a new visa pathway, the Japanese foreign ministry issued a statement debunking the information.
However, according to Japanese local media outlets, the government’s effort did little to quell the outrage.
“The content of the project is meaningful. Although we are withdrawing it, we will continue to promote international exchanges more actively,” an official of the Japanese foreign ministry was quoted as saying.
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